


I'm Sorry/It's Not Me

by Inventivetic



Series: Trope Challenge [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Tragedy, Based on Tumblr Post, Body Horror, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Grief/Mourning, Hunk (Voltron)-centric, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Missing Persons, Monster Hunter AU, Painful Transformation Trope, Pidge-Centric, Self-Indulgent, Were-Creatures, everyone else is mentioned - Freeform, implied shatt - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24759883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inventivetic/pseuds/Inventivetic
Summary: Pidge Holt knew that a strange creature-- a lion or a bear or a tiger or something had taken her brother and father , but no one had believed her. She left to the Altean Woods to get answers, and now she is closer than ever.But now her only friend (and daresay family) is acting strange and cagey, and she intended to find out why.TROPE: ANGST
Relationships: Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Matt Holt/Shiro
Series: Trope Challenge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790590
Kudos: 3





	I'm Sorry/It's Not Me

**Author's Note:**

> base on the fan fiction trope tier list challenge circulating on Tumblr rn. i literally wrote this in a day, so if its crappy *shrug* so be it. it was fun to write lol
> 
> so basically the challenge my friend i came up with, i pick my favorite trope in her bottom tier list, and she picks the fandom i write for. whaddya know, my fav is ANGST BABYY

Pidge jolted for maybe the fourth time in a row. She closed her open mouth, a few droplets of drool landing on her hand that she wiped groggily on her cargo shorts. In her lap, was Matt's half-assembled drone in her lap. Her heart sped up a little as she raised it from her lap and placed it on the desk with the same care she would hold a baby.

The sound of the garage door made her turn as light flooded in and seared into her retina like a brand, and she twisted in her chair angle her head away from the sun, but still glancing over to get a better look at the face of the silhouette who was entering her domain.

One hand flew protectively to the drone, one remained pressed against her forehead as the garage and its hellish light closed again— but it was a temporary relief. With a click and a hum of florescent lights, the pale white lights were on again and she groaned, throwing herself into her arms.

“Morning! I see you’ve been working on—” A bright voice said, and she looked up as three plastic containers made the tools on her metal desk rattle as they were placed down., “this cool ROBOT!” A pair of eyes sparkled in a way that made her stomach flip.

She stood up quickly, slapping a hand down in front of him, not quite sitting, but leaning over the desk enough to put space between him and the drone.

“ _Don’t touch that!”_ She said, her shrill voice gravelly from fatigue. He looked taken off-guard, but only for a moment as he glanced to the robot to her and took a step back. She relaxed back into her seat, slumped.

Hunk had always been someone who liked to explore with his senses— he was a cook, it made sense. That meant that he liked to touch things, too, and she was fine with that.

But this shack was full of her ideas and her life—the good, the bad, and the ugly, all for him to see if he got his hands on it. Like her diary, Shiro’s ( _now technically Keith's, but he'd abandoned it)_ hoverbike, Matt’s drone and his telescope. Hunk wasn’t a malicious guy at all, or forgetful or uncoordinated. It was just… with her sleeping habits, she could be. And she’d rather not deal with to navigate around _his_ schedule while trying to probe him into finding her stuff.

That, and… well…

She didn’t know him that well, and he didn’t know _her_ that well, but he had made an effort to _befriend_ her once she’d confessed exactly what she was trying to do this far in the Altean Woods. Despite this, she could tell that she occasionally danced on his patience as she had her moments of grief on her downtime (another reason to always be busy). And despite _that,_ she actually liked being around him. But everyone had limits, and if she ebbed at his patience too much… well. She didn’t want to see how much it would take to push him away. She knew that he wasn’t like _Keith_ , but he didn’t need to be. Friendships were fragile. People were fragile. _Lives_ were fragile, and nobody liked having the order of their lives disrupted.

Of course, she didn’t let any of this show on her face. He shouldn’t have tried to touch it. They’d established the no-touching-my-shit rule a long time ago.

So he smiled at her, soft like washed-out pair of jeans, and so completely opposite to the usual one—as harsh as sunlight, and maybe a little forced, too.

“Sorry,” He said quickly, “I was just bringing you some stuff… like peanut butter cookies.” He opened the container, and a cloud of heat, vanilla, peanut butter, and sugar filled her nasal cavity.

She plunged into the container with both hands and paused only to decide which hand to bring to her mouth first. Hunk closed the container, his hand lingering on the lid for a moment as he looked down with muted amusement.

“Thanks!” Pidge blurted out after taking a bite, crumbs spraying from her mouth. It wasn’t uncommon for him to offer a part of his lunch or two, but this was a _whole container_ of peanut butter cookies, something dark brown and something with specks of white in it.

“Well, yeah…” He trailed off, rocking on his heels and clasping his hands in front of him, “I just figured that since you forget to eat, you’d like something that’s pre-made.” Pidge nodded, waiting for him to fill the silence with his stories.

When there was an awkward pause, she interrupted as he opened his mouth to speak, “You can have some,” She opened the container, held it in one hand and reached out with the other, leaving the aroma to escape through the gaping opening, “but not _too_ many!” She added semi-seriously.

He laughed reedily, his arms swinging at his sides. He looked away. “Nah, nah, that’s all yours. I just wanted to stop by.”

“You’re not staying?” She said, surprised at her the longing in her voice, head snapping up to look at him, hand frozen. There was a moment’s panic that clutched her heart and she needed to remind herself _this isn’t Matt._

He laughed again, nervously, “…No, nope. Nnnnnot this week. I gots stuff to do, _ha-ha.”_ She looked him up and down: the swinging arms, the tapping foot, the aversion of eye-contact, it was like looking at a very cluttered painting.

“Alright... you ditching me for _someone else?_ ” She smirked, taking another mouthful of cookie.

He waved his hands, “No one! Promise!” He smiled innocently, the ends of his lips _almost_ curving upward. She was about to drop it when he added, “I just won’t be back for…for a couple—several— a while. So I’m…I’ll have to ask that you keep the garden watered… y’know, as usual...”

“ _Okay,_ ” She said slowly, eyes narrowing, “thanks for the reminder—” _about the thing I’ve been doing for months ”—_ but how long are you going to be gone for?” She corrected conversationally, crossing her legs to try to convey curiosity instead of irritation.

That was another thing they’d established that she didn’t like. If it weren’t for the cookies, I’d almost be enough to sour her mood, but she’d feel more of a prick than her usually pet-peeve ridden self if she did. So, with another bite, the ‘offense’ rolled off her back like water.

( _How many times had she been told to ‘take her meds’? Ugh._ )

“ _Don’t—_ worry…. about…it,” She actually took a double-take. The awkward way he spoke was as if he were stuck between wanting to be airy and stern and succeeding at meshing both in a sentence, “I’ll be back.., soon I just need to take care of some stuff. And… I need to take my book.”

Ah, so that’s what this was about. “Okay,” She said slowly, closing the container. She had a feeling that she was going to make her sick, but as the sight of peanut _brownies_ entered her sight, she couldn’t stop herself from taking a sizable chunk, “I’m not going to stop hunting, with or without the book.”

‘The Book’ was in reference to Hunk’s _“Tracking Guide”_. The first time they met he’d gushed about how it was about being ‘one with the earth’, ‘one with one’s senses’. ( _ding, ding, ding! Foreshadowing on the touching and the hugging and the physical contact to come_ ) It was the only thing she couldn’t investigate, which made her want to find out what was in it more, especially when she had only heard about the _haunted woods of Altea_.

He’d caught her, but instead of being mad, or telling her that she wasn’t welcome anymore, he showed her what was inside. Proof of the unknown, the bizarre, the _supernatural._ That’s when she’d told her why she was really out there. To find a monster and to prove the Garrison wrong. Monsters _did_ exist. To bring him home. It was probably part of the reason why her warnings against touching her stuff were taken so lightly. He expected her to crack and tell her all about Matt and Shiro and Keith and her dad. She hadn’t. ( _it was easier to ignore the possibility that none of them were coming back if she’d never spoke about it_ )

After he’d grilled her about her intentions. She’d said, “No, I don’t plan on hurting anything—” _Anyone,_ he corrected. That wasn’t so much as a lie. The only thing that deserved death was the lion that took Matt and Dad. Anything else, she could care less about. Besides, she could potentially need a live specimen to reopen his case, if it came to that. But it was really a question of, would she trust the Garrison not to fuck things up? She would have noticed if there was something _off_ with him, and he’d never have done the things that they were accusing him of.

“Pidge, _please._ Just until I come back,” His chocolate brown eyes creased, “I want to be there for you if something happens. Just _let me._ take _some_ time to myself! And I'll help you!”

“Then don’t leave.” She said, staring up at him. “This kind of shit doesn’t just _wait_ , not for anyone. I don’t have time.”

“What if you get cornered by another spirit?” Hunk countered, his fists curling.

“That spirit would just help me again,” He froze at that and she scowled, “didn’t think of that, huh?”

“That spirit— we didn’t—I don’t—” He spluttered, “that isn’t a reason to go around risking your life! We don’t know what that spirit wanted, or _why_ it helped!”

“Why are you being so insistent about this? What are you hiding?”

“Nothing, _Pidge!_ ” He said, his voice high and desperate. There was a pause. His hands shook as they form fists, and they fell to his sides as took a couple quick breaths. “I-I’m leaving. Do what you want.” He said, biting his lip and turning away from her.

Pidge stood up. Mouth working to form a response, holding back a retort. Between her grief and his anxiousness, both could argue in circles with _what-ifs_ and taking things personally.

She decided she wasn’t going to ask.

***

Hunk hadn’t stopped by the garage after that morning, but they were forced into small quarters because her hideout was just as close to his cabin as a twenty-minute walk. He came from the direction of the town several times within the same day, with some groceries in his pick-up truck.

She watched all this from the branches of a tree, whispering into her phone, “Okay, Rover,” The digital lines or her phone pulsated, “maybe he's donating to charity or something? I mean... I know he cooks a lot, but who needs _that many groceries_?"

The only thing of note was that he’d look in the direction of her shack, look down at his watch, shake his head, and continue whatever he was doing. A lot.

She’d only want to interrupt him for whatever potentially insignificant detour he’d taken and hopefully convince him to stay. But it was only two days after their ‘fight’ that he drove in his truck and vanished.

Ugh. What a pain in the ass. Whatever. She couldn’t be bothered to devote any time away from searching for Matt. She threw herself into her work again, trying to feel the anxiousness of being alone ( _she had never struggled with being alone until all this)_ , _truly_ alone because she couldn't just walk into his house, ask for milk and not say another word to the next day. There were still videos and logs that would reveal _exactly_ what this creature was. 

Hunk was gone for hours. A whole day. Two days. By the third day, she had started going over his stuttered assurances in her head. Did he mean to say _several days?_ She texted him that she was getting creeped out by how close the glowing lights around the house seemed to be getting. He didn’t respond.

She couldn’t help but remember the forest spirt she’d encountered, an ethereal bear spirit. It had said _something_ to her in a language that echoed in her ears and made her head throb, and she’d tried to repeat it… but her tongue felt fat and heavy against her palette, and she’d slurred through the entire pronunciation.

It turned red and angry. It was only thanks to something she'd read in that book of his that she had the right phrase to… dispel it. It make it happy, made it vanish. Hunk had found her later, an arm clutching his stomach, his face pale as she repeated the story. He said he was glad she was such a good student. It made her a little nervous to be without it, but he wouldn't leave her defenseless without a good reason, right?

But as the moon grew larger in the sky she could feel an itch.

_There is something wrong_ , a voice said to her, and she woke up.

"It's you again!" She said in the darkness, sitting up in her sleeping bag.

_There is something wrong,_ it 'said' again. Or at least, it gave her the impression of unease.

She ran her tongue over her teeth, wincing as the surprisingly sharp canines cut her teeth.

She turned the ignitionmotorbike ( _he’d started leaving it after he stayed the night for the 60th time, and never came back for it_ ) and pressed her lips together as she gliding through the thick trees, deeper and deeper as the voice instructed.

_Further, further, further._

It wasn’t until she came onto a shabby shack that she stopped.

“Hunk?” She said, shining the light on her phone across the cabin, shadows dancing.

She heard something creak above her head, a shadow gestating above her. here was a low moan, it resonated in her chest.

“Hunk? Hunk, answer me!” She said, voice rising in frenzy.

“ _Go awwAAA—!”_ Hunk’s voice rose until it cracked horribly, punctuated by the sound of ripping fabric and his voice catching. She could imagine him hyperventilating now.

She gasped, breath catching in her throat as she raced up the stairs into the hallway, only to find that it was completely dark. Upon inspection, she saw there were fingerprints on the walls, painted onto the wood with flecks of blood. Just enough to make out the circles and waves and creases.

She braced against the wall, fumbling for the metal katar she kept at her belt. “ _GO!”_ Hunk blurted out over the sound of more fabric and scraping.

She went in.

“Hunk?” She whispered, jaw dropping.

He— _It?—_ was curled upright with his knees to his chest, his hands—claws—digging into his scalp.

The noise was his clothes. She saw in horror as yellowed, gnarled claws sprouted in place of his toenails, blood splattering in a semi-circle around his feet, fur bursting out of his skin.

His arms shook as they bent at angles that made her want to puke, bones pushing out of his skin like someone was trying to push out of a blanket.

The worst part was its screaming. It was high and loud and it didn’t stop. She clapped her hands over her ears and clenched her eyes shut with her [weapon] still clenched painfully in her hand, the metal chaffed her skin.

She had pushed himself just below the mirror, he stumbled over his own.. _paws_ before he collapsed, voice catching. They stared at each other, both bodies tense as they waited for the other to act.

She took a slow step towards him, but he didn’t open his eyes.

He opened his eyes and

they were yellow.

A lump caught in her throat.

“It was _you?_ ” She whispered, feeling stinging her her eyes, “you took Matt and Dad _away from me?”_ She snarled the last words, letting out a large exhale as the tears fell. Hot against her face The witnesses she'd interrogated had reported what appeared to be a big creature. Like a lion. A lion with yellow eyes. Hunk—no, the _thing_ before her rose its head in alarm, but it dropped down again. It was weak. It was weak from its _transformation_. Its eyes were wild.

_(mom’s big, heaving cries, shoulders shaking)_

_(Dad insisted he took the business car)_

_(the grief was going to consume her if she didn’t keep working, didn’t find him)_

It looked absolutely feral now, breath coming in pants, opening its mouth, its gums bloody. It whined out what sounded like two syllables, desperate.

“ _aaaaawwwweeeeee,”_ It whined, jaw stuttered as it tried to form syllables it didn’t have the lips for.

She got to her feet, swallowing. She untied the knot that connected her rope to her katar.

She needed to fix that drone _now_ , and get some answers.

**Author's Note:**

> SO BASICALLY IN THIS AU I MADE UP YESTERDAY...
> 
> Shiro, Matt and Sam work for the Garrison, which is like... less cool NASA or whatever (close to canon garrison) and they were out in a state/country/county "Kerberos" to observe like a meteor shower or something when they vanished and presumed missing. Pidge and Keith had known each other at this point (albiet briefly because Shiro knew Matt) but they were too focused on finding their respective family members to try and split their time up to help the other find theirs, so they split up.
> 
> Eventually, Pidge goes into Altea (haunted, magical, spooky woods) because there are also sightings of magical creatures with yellow eyes that fables would say take people as slaves/entertainment. She ends up taking all important shit with her on "her" motorbike and meeting Hunk in the woods where he's like "yeah lol, stay with me". and she insists on living in the garage for like the couple of months they know each other
> 
> (I was tempted to make this Keith's shack or something, but whatever)
> 
> Hunk is there b/c he followed Lance who saw Keith come into these woods and they got separated, so he's been waiting and hoping for his friend to come back when he met Pidge. However, Hunk met the Yellow Lion (a spirit) in this forest some time ago, which connects him to the other lion spirits. Oh, and he also BECOMES the yellow lion. They all do in thus au, eventually, but just Hunk this time.
> 
> poor pidge's only video evidence was matt's stupid flying drone and its too busted to work oof. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading <3


End file.
